Description

"Plug In Baby" was Muse's then most successful song when it was released as the lead single to Origin of Symmetry in 2001. The song has remained popular and widely recognised ever since its release, and has been played at almost every Muse concert since it was premiered in 2000. Originating before the release of Muse's debut album Showbiz, it was the only song to be latterly revisited from Muse's large repertoire of early demos for recording, after undergoing some significant changes.

The song was originally about a protagonist's interaction with virtual reality, though the lyrics later became abstracted such they no longer explicitly explored this theme, leaving the song open to a wider interpretation, as indeed the band themselves have taken.

According to Matt, he wrote the song above a sex shop, "It sounds made up, but it was written above a sex shop." so, it's more likely that song talks about a sex toy. [1]

Matt and Dom came up with the title while flicking through a catalogue, Matt found something about plug-ins and decided to name the song like this, according to Matt 'it just sounded cool for a song'. [2]

It was planned to be released on Showbiz but they ended rejecting it, later, they decided to 're-invent' it and later they released it on Origin of Symmetry.[3]

Matthew Bellamy definition of Plug in Baby

From a 2001 Interview:

"Again, that's about the path evolution can take like ‘New Born’. There's the good side and the bad side; abandoning all individuality, becoming a collective whole via cables, and genetically engineering bodies that can exist out in space, or the loss of individualism"[4]

Composition

Plug In Baby is an electronic rock song written in B minor. It's guitar-driven, and moves at a fast tempo of 135 bpm. The guitar riff is heavily based upon the B minor harmonic scale, with a few accidentals. Similar to Showbiz, the song begins with a simple rhythm and builds, before climaxing with a very high vocal note.

Bellamy's vocal range spans from C♯3 to F♯5, one of the wider ranges in a Muse song.

Additional information

In an interview with James Matheison at the [V]HQ, Bent St, Sydney, in 2004, Matt momentarily forgets the meaning of Plug In Baby.

Fan: Umm, hi. This is going back a bit, but the song "Plug In Baby" - what is that about?
Matt: Ah, shit. (laughs)
Dom: You're on now.
Matt: Umm... (laughs) Uh, I can't remember now. (Dom and Chris laugh at Matt) Umm, what is it? I read- I read some book about like- uh, I don't know what it was. Something to do with, umm... co- like, uhh... bo-bots, kind of... dunno, can't remember anymore, hold on. What was it? My plug in baby, uhmm... I'm so- I'm sorry, I don't know. I can't remember. Sorry.
James: Was it about you, uh, travelling around the world, and you've got-?
Matt: It's- It's all random, it just comes out- I mean, it's random, I've got no idea what I'm singing about at all, sorry. It's just like- It's just kind of like, write a few chords and that, and then just... improvise a few words, and just hope it means something. It does mean something! Trust me. But I can't work it out myself. 'Cause I'm subjective, you see. So I can't actually quite work it out, that's for you lot to work out. (laughs)
James: It doesn't have anything to do with when you're travelling the globe and you have trouble, uh, finding powerpoints-
Matt: (laughs)
James: -that'll fit your walkman, or the like?
Dom: If you want it to be. (smiles)
James: Well, it is for me, then, I guess!
Dom: (nods and grins) Cool.

Howard: "That song’s about putting emotion into something that has no soul - like a child’s teddy bear or a computer. And also what it would be like if we could genetically engineer puppies that never grow old."

Bellamy: "I think the chorus is probably referring to some kind of analogy of the touring lifestyle, of what it feels like being on stage playing or whatever it might be, but kind of saying that really, I'm prepared to pretty much sacrifice everything in my personal life for the sake of playing music."[5]

Due to the multiple - and often contradictory - interpretations of the song's meaning, fans generally interpret it subjectively.

Although on the album Origin of Symmetry the song begins with a crossfade from the end of previous track "Hyper Music", the version found on the single contains a 'clean' introduction. Likewise, the single version of "Hyper Music" has a clean ending.

Italian fencer Matteo Tagliarol suggested the song aided him in the attaining a gold medal during the 2008 Olympics, stating "I listened to 'Plug In Baby', of Muse, just before entering the field. I'm going to put the disc close to the medal!" in an interview minutes after winning.[6]

Live

As of 2018, Plug in Baby is the most played live Muse song with it being played almost 1000 times overall.

Recording

The band were apparently on hallucinogenic mushrooms when they recorded it. The 1997 studio demo of "Plug In Baby" lacked the main riff of the song although there were numerous similarities in the lyrics and structure of the song. "Plug In Baby" was to be re-recorded under the wishes of Maverick to coincide with an US tour promoting Origin of Symmetry.[7] As Maverick wished Matt to tone down the falsetto on the song, Muse left the label and "Plug In Baby", as well as the rest of the album, remained unreleased in the US. It is unknown if Muse did re-record "Plug In Baby" and whether this version still exists.

Lyrics

I've exposed your lies baby

The underneath's no big surprise
Now it's time for changing
And cleansing everything
To forget your love

My plug in baby
Crucifies my enemies
When I'm tired of giving, whoa
My plug in baby
In unbroken virgin realities
Is tired of living oooh

My plug in baby
Crucifies my enemies
When I'm tired of giving, whoa
My plug in baby
In unbroken virgin realities
Is tired of living
Oooh
And I've seen your loving
Mine is gone
And I've been in trouble
Wooaahhhh